^'"kSirn.''"'}  Progress  in  Pharmacy.  135 
its  first  introduction  into  the  Pharmacopoeia  in  1650,  and  expresses 
the  hope  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  its  active  constituents 
will  be  scientifically  determined,  and  their  respective  value  more 
accurately  ascertained. — Chem.  &  Drug.,  Lond.,  1910,  v.  77,  p.  861. 
J.  Burmann  has  published  {Bull.  Soc.  Chim.)  a  criticism  of 
Keller's  method  of  estimating  digitoxin,  and  says  it  can  only  be  re- 
garded as  valid  if  it  is  admitted  that  the  product  weighed  always  con- 
tains true  digitoxin  in  the  same  proportion  relative  to  the  other  gluco- 
sides  present.  He  gives  the  following  toxic  doses  per  kilogramme  of 
body-weight  of  rabbits :  Merck's  crystalline  digitoxin,  0.0026  Gm. ; 
digitoxin  prepared  by  Keller's  method  of  estimation  0.008  Gm.,  or 
9.2  c.c.  of  a  0.3  per  cent,  solution  in  alcohol  (7  parts),  glycerin  (25 
parts),  and  water  (68  parts.)  ;  Cloetta's  soluble  digitoxin,  10.3  c.c. 
of  a  0.3  per  cent,  solution  in  the  triple  menstruum  just  mentioned.— 
Chem.  &  Drug.,  Lond.,  191 1,  v.  78,  p.  48. 
Ethyl  Chloride. — Horatio  C.  Wood,  Jr.,  reports  a  statistical 
study  on  the  comparative  danger  of  ethyl  chloride  as  an  anaesthetic. 
He  finds  that  the  approximate  mortality  from  the  use  of  ethyl 
chloride  is  1-6000  anaesthesias  while  the  mortality  for  nitrous  oxide 
is  about  1-1,000,000,  chloroform  1-3500,  and  ether  1-15,000  anaes- 
thesias. As  the  use  of  ethyl  chloride  corresponds  more  nearly  to 
that  of  nitrous  oxide,  Wood  concludes  that  it  must  be  considered 
as  an  unsafe  anaesthetic.—/.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  1910,  v.  55,  p.  2229. 
FoRMUROL. — The  Secretary  of  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and 
Chemistry  of  the  American  Medical  Association  reports  a  chemical 
examination  of  formurol  which  corroborates  the  findings  of  Zernik 
that  formurol  is  not  a  definite  chemical  compound  but  is  in  reality 
a  mixture  of  hexamethylenamin  and  sodium  citrate. — /.  Am.  M. 
Ass.,  1911,  v.  56,  p.  210. 
Globularin  is  the  name  given  to  a  glucoside  obtained  from 
Glohularia  alypum.  It  is  said  to  cause  an  increase,  followed  by  a 
transitory  decrease  in  the  amount  of  urine  excreted. — Pharm. 
Zentralh.,  191 1,  v.  52,  p.  52. 
Glycerin. — An  editorial  in  the  Journal  of  -  Industrial  and  En- 
gineering Chemistry  (January,  191 1,  v.  3,  p.  3)  points  out  that  the 
manufacture  of  nitroglycerin  explosives  is  the  determining  factor  in 
regulating  the  price  of  glycerin.  From  being  a  by-product  in  the 
manufacture  of  lead  plaster  glycerin  has  become  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal products  of  the  saponification  of  fats  and  at  the  present  time 
sells  at  from  two  to  three  times  the  price  of  the  raw  material  from 
which  it  is  made. 
